venerdì 7 marzo 2014

Winter 2014!

Hi everybody!
I left you right after my send of one of the hardest boulders I completed in my life... Insanity of Grandeur!

As I said in the previous post I was ready to leave for the traditional 2 weeks trip in Siurana and Margalef.
The trip went fairly well. I took it actually as a real vacation so I didn't leave with any specific projects or plans. Just climbing as much as possible and spending the two weeks having fun with some of my best friends.
During the trip, in between partys,cervezas,tapas and other not-so-healty stuffs I was able to send a couple of hard routes too...

- 24 Hours Party People is a very short 8c in the Laboratori sector of Margalef. Really bouldery route on small pockets. I had already tried it last year for a day and felt very tough. This time it felt much better and I could dispatch it in two short sessions! Here is the video:

- Chocolate Caliente is another 8c situated in the Grau de Masets sector of Siurana. It is another short routes but the angle and the kind of holds are different. The wall is slightly overhanging with small holds and big moves in between them. Very technical as well. The hard part is the first, about 15 moves and the crux for me was the last big lock off from a mono to a slopey pinch, where I fell 4 times. After that the route is basically over but you still have to climb about 10 meters of 7c.Of course I tried again, like every year, my nemesis route A Muerte in the Campigui Pugui sector of Siurana. Some tries went well, falling at the last move but on most of them I fell at my nightmare move stucking the far pocket.Then New Years came... and you know getting things done after New Years party is very difficult if you are not a teenager anymore...

Back home I started training and bouldering when the weather allowed it. Since the budget for trips for the first part of the year is very low the plan is to do some competitions. Possibly some Bouldering World Cups again, after a few years out of the circuit. But first I need to do some tests, like the CWIF, an international event I got invited to rapresent the Climbing Works Team aka Team Wad togheter with Rustam Gelmanov, Alex Megos and Melissa Le Neve!
Another comp I will do is the first Bouldering Italian Cup in Rome who will probably decide who is going to compete in the World Cups.
Wish me luck!

In between training sessions I had the chance to spend a few days out.
One of the primary goals of the bouldering season was to try and possibly send The Story of 2 Worlds!
This problem is an extension of the classic The Dagger and adds a crimpy and tricky 8a+ bottom part into the 8b. The day I did The Dagger I decided to give a quick look into the start and in a hour or so I had my beta figured out. I decided to start like Dave Graham did on the first ascent and exactly used his same sequence except for the move to get into the Dagger starting hold.
Since that day the weather started to suck and in a couple of months I managed to try it another couple of times with medium to poor conditions.
Then one day I decided to go to Cresciano alone.
The day was pretty good but a bit warm and humid in the morning. I tried the start a few times but the small holds felt greasy. Luckily the good north wind started to blow and conditions radically changed. Giuliano Cameroni and two Polish guys showed up and I got more psyched to try the problem again with some support and more chill atmosphere.
During this "good friction window" I gave two more tries from the start and twice got into The Dagger but both times my feet or toes slipped off!
After the second good try I felt not phisically worked so I decided to wait for the late afternoon and give one last attempt.
I setted off with a calm and fresh mind. The first part went very well and I got into the Dagger not feeling very tired. I felt strong on the rail and the toe hook was perfectly stuck on the arete.
From here I actually realized I could climb the whole boulder so I went into battle mode and started slapping and squeezing as hard as possible. The end was a real battle and I think that without the spot of the polish guys I would have not committed like this.
I was really tired at the end and with my beta the very last move to match the left hand arete before crossing to the final jug in a bit tricky and if you fall here you just land back first so thanks to the Polish guys this move felt a bit safer...
At the top of the boulder I couldn't believe I had just climbed this incredible classic boulder and project of the season! Incredible feeling one more time!

Here is a list of the problems I did during the 2014 winter bouldering season:

Now I'm getting ready for a last(?) Ticino's weekend before leaving next week for the next adventure in Great Britain!
First the CWIF international bouldering competition then one week on the british rocks! Let's hope for some dry weather!...